


into the woods

by triggeringthehealing (froggydarren)



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Established Relationship, Future Fic, M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-31
Updated: 2017-03-31
Packaged: 2018-10-13 10:21:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,858
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10511796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/froggydarren/pseuds/triggeringthehealing
Summary: Years after Derek’s return to Beacon Hills, after Stiles’ college, after they grew closer, Stiles decided it was time to explore where his family came from. Both of them free for a whole summer, Stiles asked Derek to come along. What he didn’t expect was for Derek to have plans, ones that didn’t involve Stiles’ ancestry or the research that was their original goal. And Stiles wasn’t sure how he felt about deep green woods, hiking boots, and backpacks with barely the essentials when they ended up on a trail that he knew nothing about.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [FandomWritingChallenge](https://fandomwritingchallenge.tumblr.com/) on tumblr. My prompt for this month was **Hiking**.

“You know, I didn’t really expect us to be doing  _ this _ ,” Stiles waves a hand at his surroundings, “when you said we’d go to Europe to look for our family roots.” 

“It’s just a small detour,” Derek tells him, glancing back for a beat before he keeps walking through the forest. “And it was  _ Babcia _ who recommended it.” 

“Okay,  _ that _ , you calling her Babcia, is still weird. It’s never going to not be weird,” Stiles says, trying to keep up with Derek along the trail. “I mean, I knew from when she visited that she tends to adopt anyone she thinks isn’t mothered enough. I’ve  _ seen _ it happen with Scott and Isaac last summer. But how she managed to wrap  _ you _ around her little finger, I’ll never understand.” 

He watches as Derek’s shoulders shrug easily despite the heavy backpack, and he knows better than to expect a verbal response. They walk in silence for another while, following the narrow trail, until they turn a corner and the sight makes Stiles stop in his tracks.

“Nope. No. No way. So many levels of not a hope in hell,” he says, looking up at the top of the unsteady-looking wooden ladder that Derek’s just reached. 

“There is no other way. The trail is circular, we’ve gotta keep going to get back to the lodge,” Derek tells him when he turns around. “Plus, this has been here for decades, it’s safe.”

“Says you,” Stiles mutters, but he walks over and narrows his eyes at the wooden construction. “It’s… awful high.” 

“I didn’t know you had an issue with heights,” Derek says, and there’s a hint of genuine worry in his tone. 

“I don’t. Not like, serious phobia levels, I don’t think. But this,” Stiles nods at the ladder, “isn’t what I was expecting today.” 

Derek stares at him for a moment, then tilts his head like he’s trying to figure something out. Stiles stares back with a frown. 

“What?” Finally it’s him who breaks the silence, unsettled by Derek’s gaze.

“We’re in a national park. We got here by walking a trail. There’s forest everywhere. Did you really  _ not _ expect there to be  _ hiking _ ?” Derek asks, sounding genuinely confused.

“...maybe?” Stiles pauses, and he absent-mindedly kicks a rock on the ground that his eyes drop to. “I mean,  _ some _ walking, I was prepared for. But I thought, in the lodge… I thought we’d stay there. Have a drink and some food. Then relax and maybe go explore the ruins that we went past earlier.” 

He looks up just as Derek’s face falls in disappointment. 

“But I mean, hiking is cool, it’s just…” Stiles glances up at the ladder again. “We’re here now though, but you might need to give me a hand getting up there,” he offers, and walks over to stand in front of Derek. 

“Hm, if I’m underneath you on the ladder, the most I can do is grab your skinny ankles,” Derek grins, but to Stiles’ relief his tone is light and amused.

“Yeah, well, if you want us to tumble down from this thing,” Stiles climbs the first rung, “then you do that. But you’d be proving me right.”

“You falling because you can’t deal with my hands on you is hardly a testament to the ladder’s quality,” Derek jokes, and Stiles -- who’s now a little higher, against his better judgment -- ineffectively kicks back in what he thinks should be Derek’s direction. 

“I deal with your hands on me very well, thank you,” Stiles grumbles as he keeps climbing. “Under the right circumstances.”

Derek doesn’t respond to that, and Stiles almost comments on how that’s a wise choice, but he decides that taunting when Derek’s basically his safety net is probably a bad idea. So instead he keeps moving on the ladder, quietly muttering about all the ways that hiking is an insane thing for someone like him to be doing. 

When they reach the top, he lets out a breath he’s been holding for the last few rungs of the ladder, and he just stands a step away from the edge with his eyes closed. He can hear Derek catching up, and Stiles figures that the noisy movements are for his benefit -- he’s used to Derek moving so quietly that Stiles often doesn’t know he close. This time, maybe because Stiles isn’t looking, or because they’re so close to a possible fall, Derek lets him know he’s there before he wraps his arms around Stiles’ waist.

“Gotcha,” Derek whispers into Stiles’ ear, chuckling a little when -- despite the awareness of Derek’s whereabouts -- Stiles jumps a little at the sudden sound. 

“You  _ are _ trying to get me to fall,” Stiles grumbles, but he leans back against Derek’s body, relaxing when he feels Derek’s arms tighten around him. 

“I’ve got you,” Derek says quietly. “Now look,” he lifts his right arm and points to the distance, “wasn’t the view worth the climb?”

Stiles hums unconvincingly, but admits to himself that the place is beautiful. Still, he’s not willing to budge on his displeasure of being that high up, or being talked into a hike. They walk on a little while later, now on a wider and even trail, hand in hand. It’s something Stiles knows he should be getting used to, they’ve been dating for over a year. But having Derek this content next to him, this comfortable with affection -- even as small as their hands together -- still sends a little thrill through Stiles’ body. 

As the trail begins to descend, Stiles eyes the rocky ravine they’re walking towards. He wonders what Derek can hear in the silence of the forest, but doesn’t ask. 

When they reach the rock walls, Stiles stops in his tracks when it becomes obvious that the trail doesn’t go on. 

“Wait, what…  _ Derek _ !” 

“What?” Derek turns to Stiles, his face a picture of innocence.

Or at least most of it is. There’s a glint of amusement in Derek’s eyes as he watches Stiles look at where the trail leads. 

“No,” Stiles says simply when he spots the point at which the trail stops being solid. “Oh hell no.” 

“Remember how I said the trail is circular?” Derek asks, obviously not expecting an answer, because he continues on immediately. “We could possibly turn around, but then it’s back down the ladder.” 

“But that…” Stiles waves a hand towards the rock wall, “doesn’t look safe.” 

There are chains along the rock wall, and underneath them, from where the path ends, small metal grates, barely the size of manhole covers. They look like they’ve been there for decades, and Stiles knows that he’s being a little irrational about the safety issue, but when he walks a little closer, he can see how deep the ravine goes. And he can see it right through the grates that he’s supposed to  _ walk on _ . 

“I’d offer to hold your hand, but… you’ll need to hold on,” Derek tells him as he nods at the wall and the support chain on it. “I won’t let you fall though.”

“How? It’s not like we can be all that close on those,” Stiles mutters, still eyeing the “path” with suspicion. 

“If we get over this fast, I’ll make it up to you at the lodge,” Derek says, and Stiles turns around, eyebrow raised questioningly. 

“And how do you propose you can make up for dragging me here, kicking and screaming, putting my life at risk by making me walk on tiny squares of metal?” Stiles asks, and he knows he’s a little too dramatic, but he doesn’t care. Those grates look old and rusty and he’s not all that keen on life-endangering situations on his  _ off _ time. “There better be something amazing on the cards, because....”

He doesn’t get to finish, because Derek leans over and brushes his lips over Stiles’ cheek with a soft hum. 

“I promise I will make it up to you,” he says, smiling when he pulls away again. 

Stiles hates himself a little for how weak his is to seeing Derek this way, this happy. But it’s taken a long time, and it’s still not something he’s used to. Derek smiling will always be a little breathtaking. 

“Okay, I’ll hold you to that,” he says with resignation and turns to the rock wall. “Let’s do this. I better not fall and break anything though,” he adds with an unconvincing glare back to Derek. 

Stiles will never admit that he only manages to get across the grates without looking under his feet. Nor that his arms shake that little harder when the rock wall juts out and he has to bend backwards to avoid it. When they reach solid ground again, he takes a deep breath, his back turned to Derek, just to steady himself. Before he manages that on his own, Derek’s there, arms wrapped around Stiles’ waist, nose just below Stiles’ ear.

“I’m sorry,” Derek mumbles. 

“‘S okay,” Stiles whispers back. “It was… interesting.” 

“If I’d known you weren’t good with heights…” 

“No, seriously, Derek, it’s okay,” Stiles says a little louder and a whole lot firmer. “We’re just not doing this trail, or any similar ones again. Right?”

Derek shakes his head when he moves away, and he offers his hand.

“Come on, told you I’d make it up to you,” he says, and Stiles frowns.

“Please tell me that it’s at least not too much further back to the lodge.”

“We’re not going to the lodge, actually,” Derek tells him when he starts walking.

The rest of the hike is mostly Stiles trying to get Derek to give up where they’re heading, and Derek smiling at Stiles instead of answering. It isn’t that much further, and when they emerge from the forest, Stiles immediately looks for the familiar lodge they passed on the way to the trail, or the ruins near it that he considered exploring. Instead, he’s faced with empty space that only has one small cottage on a hill right across from where they’re standing, trees lining the grassy field they walked out to. 

“There,” Derek says, like it answers everything.

“There what?” Stiles asks, looking at Derek in confusion.

“See the cottage?” Stiles nods. “That’s ours for a week. It’s stocked up, the trail actually doesn’t lead out here but a little further down, so we won’t get disturbed. It’s…” Derek pauses and takes a deep breath. “This time last year, you kissed me. And I kissed you back. For the first time, I felt like  _ peace _ was a possibility for real.” Stiles smirks. “I didn’t say  _ silence _ ,” Derek counters. “Anyway, I wanted us to have a little more of that.” 

Stiles processes the information, and then he pulls Derek closer and kisses him. 

“It’s perfect,” he says. “Now come on, you have making up to do. I’m thinking massage, hot bath,  _ dinner _ ,” he starts rambling, and barely notices the smile on Derek’s face. 

It’s the kind that Stiles once didn’t think he’d see, not in a genuine way, and it’s making his heart skip in happiness. And peace sounds perfect, especially since he gets to spend the week with Derek. 

**Author's Note:**

> [my tumblr](http://froggydarren.tumblr.com/) || [my sterek fic tumblr](http://triggeringthehealing.tumblr.com/)


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